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Pope Benedict XVI might have put the Vatican on YouTube, but it hasn't lessened his radical conservatism. In a move sure to delight Iran and far, far right wingnuts everywhere, he has revoked the excommunication of four bishops, one of whom, Richard Williamson, said just a week or so ago that "he did not believe that six million Jews died in the Nazi gas chambers." Not only that -- if you listen to the interview -- he doesn't believe that there were any gas chambers at all.
So much for the slow reconciliation of the Catholic Church with Judaism, which has been an ongoing effort for some time. This moves us back to a Medieval mindset, which is what this pope seems to prefer..
All four bishops are part of the Society of St. Pius X, which is an ultra-conservatice schismatic group that broke away from the Catholic Church in 1970 in protest against the Second Vatican Council -- started by Pope John XVIII and ended under Pope Paul VI. The Second Vatican Council was an attempt to modernize and liberalize the church, to make it relevant to the 20th Century and to make it more open and welcoming to all people, of all faiths.
When Pope Benedict was Cardinal Ratzinger, according to the NY Times article, he attempted to bring the Society back into the fold of the church. Evidently, that's still his goal. One might suspect that he has a certain sympathy for their beliefs -- rather than insisting that the Society acknowledge their error in refusing to follow the then-popes' rulings, Pope Benedict seems to be saying that hey, these people were right and we were wrong. He seems to be granting them the title of bishop as well, even though the Catholic Church never gave them that title, as his comments regarding this referred to them as bishops.
I also suspect that any remaining liberal elements within the church are furious with this decision.
So much for the slow reconciliation of the Catholic Church with Judaism, which has been an ongoing effort for some time. This moves us back to a Medieval mindset, which is what this pope seems to prefer..
All four bishops are part of the Society of St. Pius X, which is an ultra-conservatice schismatic group that broke away from the Catholic Church in 1970 in protest against the Second Vatican Council -- started by Pope John XVIII and ended under Pope Paul VI. The Second Vatican Council was an attempt to modernize and liberalize the church, to make it relevant to the 20th Century and to make it more open and welcoming to all people, of all faiths.
When Pope Benedict was Cardinal Ratzinger, according to the NY Times article, he attempted to bring the Society back into the fold of the church. Evidently, that's still his goal. One might suspect that he has a certain sympathy for their beliefs -- rather than insisting that the Society acknowledge their error in refusing to follow the then-popes' rulings, Pope Benedict seems to be saying that hey, these people were right and we were wrong. He seems to be granting them the title of bishop as well, even though the Catholic Church never gave them that title, as his comments regarding this referred to them as bishops.
I also suspect that any remaining liberal elements within the church are furious with this decision.